Death of Boredom IS BOREDOM OK AND WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF BOREDOM?

25.2.2024

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The Death of Boredom will never happen if we keep searching for distraction and overstimulation. Scrolling boredom away does not work - if it worked, it would be an evolutionary relic of our past and we would read history books about how the world looked like when boredom was upon us. Also, If people could get along with boredom, entire industries would crash so the incentives for distraction are through the roof.

Welcome to Happy Face Podcast. I am your host, Martin Rybacek and today I will walk you through boredom! Hold on tight or it will get boring!

In my Czech Q & A podcast episode I received a very good question.

I tried a slow exercise lesson and I found it boring. What could I have done wrong?

So I looked into the topic and searched through my memory to shine a little bit of light on this! I also asked my colleague Míša, qigong teacher and a psychology student, what is her own experience with tedium. She brought some really beautiful insights and I will share what she found on the other side of boredom!

In my opinion, boredom is normal and can surely appear in the beginning phases of any slow practice or stopping bodymind training like yoga, qigong, meditation or Feldenkreis method. It also appears in day to day life when we are used to high levels of stimulation and all the sudden we find ourselves in a slow or dull circumstance.

I experienced it myself. On a year-long qigong teacher 's course, I found some exercises lengthy and tedious. Don´t take me wrong though, the course was put together very professionally, the program was lively, interesting and skillfully crafted. We simply loved the program and teachers, however, in my experience, I could not avoid moments of boredom. I am deeply grateful for it and you are about to understand why!

What is Boredom?

Dr. Sandi Mann, psychologist, senior lecturer at the university of Central Lancashire in the UK, describes it as a feeling when the brain is searching for stimulation and can't find it. Or it can be a situation when you have nothing to do that appeals to you at the time.

It is an uncomfortable feeling of dissatisfaction and frustration. But, there can be a positive outcome when approaching it right and finding the motivation to stay in it for a while.

And how? Let me show you this study.

Doctor Sandi Mann closed people in sensory deprivation rooms. They were soundproof, so there was nothing to hear, nothing to look at, nothing to do. For a lot of people it was painful, stressful, frustrating and tiring. But those who were able to work through that pain barrier got to this zone when they felt relaxed, at peace and some even described the feeling similar to coming out of a warm bath! Staying with that uncomfortable feeling of boredom resulted in a positive outcome.

Becoming ok with boredom is such a SUPERPOWER one could say! And that's right!

Another benefit of sticking with boredom is a proven increase in creativity. Creativity can´t be planned or pushed. It comes when we give it space and open up.

We learned that there is contentment and boost of creativity to be found in the patient approach to boredom but, there is much more to it. In the little or bigger gaps of our lives we get to know ourselves better. And why would one want to know himself or herself better? Because it is apparently the most important thing in life!

Yuval Noah Harari, famous author, philosopher and history professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem had an interesting conversation with Jay Shetty in his podcast On Purpouse.

To get to know yourself is one of the oldest pieces of advice ever. If you go back thousands of years and you meet Buddha, Socrates, Confucius, this is what they will tell you: get to know yourself - it is the most important thing in life.

But why? When you know yourself better, you can make more fulfilling choices, choose better relationships and go easier beyond simple reactivity that costs so much energy. This is freedom. Being aware of our body and mind can save our energy and make us happier. If we recognize negative patterns coming up or tension, we can harness tools for relaxation or concentration and effect our mood and energy in a better way than we would by being ignorant to ourselves and being swept away by circumstances. Getting familiar with our inner reality, we can, I think, find a more functional position in the world that benefits us and others and the entire world.

How can you cook a delicious meal if you don't know what your ingredients are, living oblivious to the fact that you have a kitchen? You find the real ingredients for your life inside! And chances are, you cross the desert of boredom along the way. One never sees this journey in the success stories and movies. Maybe a short version, short clip is presented, but the bigger picture is so wider than the screen!

Michaela Cmiralova - qigong teacher, student of psychology and founder of Sebeskola.cz:

Boredom is so to say almost an inevitable experience in the beginning of any slow or stopping exercise. It was interesting not to run away immediately.

It was important for her, she says, to stay with the feelings of boredom, to sit with it, because they have a tendency to transform into something else and that is the moment it begins to get really interesting!

I had a deep moment on my teacher's course- before escaping boredom by working on a laptop one day, I paused and took a little downtime on a balcony. And all the sudden, the boredom started transforming into a sense of softness and peace. I was standing on the balcony, just resting there and taking in the light breeze touching my face, moving my hair lightly. It was a really beautiful moment, very fulfilling, no real action needed, nothing dramatic or interesting to be created and yet very fulfilling moment. The journey to this moment was also through boredom, to stay with it and let it transform into something else.

Do we really want death to boredom now? After showing the positive aspects of it, boredom is an inevitable part of human existence and can lead to innovations, harmony and balance. I am not talking about the unhealthy boredom patterns that can lead to dark places of chaotic loss of structure and integrity in life. Doing nothing all the time is not the road to go down, but doing something at all costs and being distracted forever is evenly harmful and can lead to self destruction as well. The more stimulation we get, the more we need - so our tolerance to boredom lowers and we demand more dopamine hits in our giant hamster wheels.

Relying on my inner capacity to unbore myself, staying with it, not running away, just being as I am for a couple minutes a day - this is a joyful and proven belief that can carry many current troubles away. Being ok with boredom is raising the threshold to it and leads to a more balanced you!

If this episode brought more clarity into the topic of boredom, please give it a rating on spotify or apple podcast or like this one on youtube. I will appreciate your feedback. Good habits are such a valuable article now more than ever, so if you think of a dear person that could benefit from this episode, share it! Thank You! And now…. now, take a deep breath in….take a loong breath out and walk free into what comes next.

Sources and notes:

www.happyface.cz

www.sebeskola.cz

https://imagine5.com/podcast/feeling-uncreative-try-just-being-bored/

https://youtu.be/q3bPPN6ycYk?si=MaG3VwzqTobrK9bK

Happy Face Podcast talks about the paths to freedom and joy.

I am a masseur and qigong teacher who shares wellness ideas and brings them to practice every monday live on instagram.

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